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Ain't Them Bodies Saints won Sundance's 2013 Cinematography Award (U.S. Dramatic) for its haunting, beautifully-lit imagery. After The Cinema Society's special screening at MoMA last night (hosted by Downtown Calvin Klein), we spoke to a designer who knows all about creating ethereal beauty: Prabal Gurung.

"I loved it, especially the cinematography," Gurung said of the film, which stars Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, and Keith Carradine. "It's been awhile since I've seen something this beautiful. I thought everyone was great, and I love Rooney. I think she's one of the finest actresses we have now."

Ain't Them Bodies Saints, which opens August 16, has drawn comparisons to the visual style of Terrence Malick's films.

"It's wonderful to be compared to a filmmaker I admire," said director David Lowery last night. "And there's no doubt about the fact that he was someone whom I've always looked up to, especially as a fellow Texas filmmaker. I hope that people who like Malick's work will see this film and then realize that it goes off in its own direction." Mara will also appear in Malick's upcoming film, opposite Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman, about a love triangle set in the Austin music scene.

Lowery described directing Mara: "[It was] like talking to a really close friend. There wasn't a lot of work required. She comes to set 100 percent prepared, and my job was to kind of guide her towards 125 percent."

Later in the night, we caught up with Foster, who portrays writer William S. Burroughs in Kill Your Darlings, due in October. "Playing Burroughs was the greatest excuse to do some summer reading," he said. Foster will also appear in the upcoming Lone Survivor, along with Mark Wahlberg, Emile Hirsch, and Taylor Kitsch. The film is directed by Kitsch's Friday Night Lights and Battleship director, Peter Berg. "I love Peter Berg!" said Foster. "He's a philosopher-poet-animal." Continuing last night's Texas theme, Berg also shot Friday Night Lights in Austin.

Set in rural Texas in the '70s, Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a passionate love story between two outlaws played Affleck and Mara. Affleck breaks out of prison to return after being sentenced to life for a shooting (committed by Mara). This ignites a manhunt spearheaded by Foster and Carradine.

"My character, Skerritt, is kind of a mental father figure to Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck," said Carradine. And what does he have in common with his nefarious character? "We're the same age," he laughed.